Kentucky Wildcats guard De’Aaron Fox (0) shoots against Wichita State Shockers guard Landry Shamet (11) during the second half in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Adebayo took over in the second half, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double. Monk blocked a shot with 13 seconds to go, and Adebayo blocked the Shockers last attempt to tie the game, a three-pointer by Landry Shamet.

“He pumped faked, and I knew he was going to shoot it so I went up and tried to block it,” Adebayo said.

Fox took advantage of drives to the basket, and the Wildcats, known for their cast of underclassmen stars, got a boost from senior veterans. Derek Willis scored all nine of his points in the second half, Dominique Hawkins scored seven points in the first half and Mychal Mulder had three points and two assists.

“It’s nice we’ve got veterans,” Calipari said.

Much of the first half was played at a tempo in favor of Wichita State (31-5), and Kentucky successfully employed seldom-used lineups featuring reserves Isaac Humphries and Mulder to maintain a 26-24 advantage at the break.

“We came up one possession short and got to execute better in the game, and that’s on me,” Shockers coach Gregg Marshall said. “… Congratulations to Kentucky on a hard-fought win going to the Sweet 16.”

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Fletcher Page writes for the Louisville Courier-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Kentucky Wildcats guard De’Aaron Fox (0) has his shot blocked by Wichita State Shockers center Shaquille Morris (24) during the first half in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.